Computing in the cloud: Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution.

• Author: Schultz, Douglas
• Position: Book review

Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution: How Cloud Computing Is Transforming Business and Why You Can't Afford to Be Left Behind

Author: Charles Babcock

Publisher: McGraw Hill

Publication Date: 2010

Length: 272 pages

Price: $27.95

ISBN-13 : 978 0071740753

Source : www.mhprofessional.com

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Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution: How Cloud Computing Is Transforming Business and Why You Can't Afford to Be Left Behind by Charles Babcock is a valuable resource for individuals needing to learn more about the basics of cloud computing.

While the title may suggest the content is appropriate for the nontechnical business leader, this book is intended for individuals with a strong background in IT. Babcock does a great job in breaking down definitions into easy-to-consume pieces, but "nontechies" may struggle through some parts of the book.

Cloud Computing Phenomenon

Cloud computing is the latest IT buzzword de jour. It has dominated the headlines of vendor product announcements, industry conferences. and the many analysts covering the IT space for the last couple of years. Cloud computing is being advertised as the biggest game-changing force in business since the dot.com bust of the late 1990s. It quite simply promises to simplify and significantly lower the cost of the computing environments in the public and private realm, while providing incredible flexibility to businesses.

Cloud computing refers to using the Internet rather than the internal computing infrastructure of an organization for storage and access to data or for software and applications. Web-based e-mail services, such as Google's Gmail, is an example of cloud computing. The user's e-mail account is stored in Google's systems and users gain access to their e-mail via the Internet.

Babcock begins by defining cloud computing, but may lose readers because of the vast number of definitions. The technology is so new that the definition depends on the vendor and the services offered. This lack of a clear, concise definition is one of the reasons that a company needs to understand the business problem it is trying to solve before embracing one vendor or another.

The author discusses the concept of virtualization, or virtual machines, at a very. detailed level. Readers without a background in technology may struggle through this part of the book. While virtualization is not required for cloud computing, it is a required component if a vendor wants to be...